Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Give him the whole year in AAA. Get him 150ish innings. There are plenty of other options to help the ML club. (LeCure, Wood, Maloney, Volquez maybe even Klinker) Why push someone when there isn't any direct need (other than to satisfy quick triggered, impatient fans) to promote him before he is ready. It behooves the Reds to keep him down all year. They will get a couple extra years out of the deal because of it. Get Bray into the bullpen as the LH vs screwing with Chapman's development. Makes so much more sense logically.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Don't freak out over one start. He's been overall very good through his first 10 starts. Only two poor outings in his first 10 pro starts. (And now three in 11 starts.) He will be more than fine.
It's crazy to think he's going to spend the whole year at AAA.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Blitz Dorsey
Don't freak out over one start. He's been overall very good through his first 10 starts. Only two poor outings in his first 10 pro starts. (And now three in 11 starts.) He will be more than fine.
It's crazy to think he's going to spend the whole year at AAA.
How so? Unless the injury bug hits the team hard he will have to flat out dominate to push somebody out of the rotation.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
It doesn't bother me that Chapman had a bad outing. It happens. This outing will hopefully solidify the Reds keeping him in AAA longer, which he needs. I do not want to see him rushed under any circumstances.
He's just not ready for The Show yet. I think he could be ready by September though (in a bullpen role), especially if they keep his innings down.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
It kind of boggles my mind that people are already complaining about Chapman and saying he's nothing more than a reliever. People are too impatient. Let's take a look at where other star pitchers were at when they were 22 years old.
Randy Johnson walked 94 batters in 119.2 innings (7.1 BB/9) in Single-A as a 22 year old. He then walked 128 batters in 140 innings in Double-A as a 23 year old.
Tim Lincecum walked 63 batters in 125.1 innings (4.5 BB/9) in college as a 22 year old.
Chris Carpenter had a 4.0 BB/9 as a 22 year old in Double-A.
Adam Wainwright had a 4.0 BB/9 as a 22 year old in AAA.
Johan Santana had a 5.0 BB/9 in AAA at age 23.
And none of those guys had to go through what Chapman is going through. The cultural adjustment for Chapman is just unimaginable. I know we all wish he would post a sub 1.00 ERA and strike everybody out and force his way into the majors immediately but the fact is, he needs some seasoning in the minors. I think his dominance in spring training kind of fooled us all (including me) into thinking he was ready to dominate major league hitters when in reality he needed some time in the minor leagues. After all, he hadn't pitched in a competitive games since early in 2009.
I'm absolutely thrilled to have him in the organization. He's got an incredible future ahead of him, IMO. A lefty that throws 100 MPH and has three ridiculously good pitches and has clean mechanics. He just needs to improve his control and gain consistent command of his pitches. When he does, he has a chance to be a very special pitcher.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OnBaseMachine
It kind of boggles my mind that people are already complaining about Chapman and saying he's nothing more than a reliever. People are too impatient. Let's take a look at where other star pitchers were at when they were 22 years old.
Randy Johnson walked 94 batters in 119.2 innings (7.1 BB/9) in Single-A as a 22 year old. He then walked 128 batters in 140 innings in Double-A as a 23 year old.
Tim Lincecum walked 63 batters in 125.1 innings (4.5 BB/9) in college as a 22 year old.
Chris Carpenter had a 4.0 BB/9 as a 22 year old in Double-A.
Adam Wainwright had a 4.0 BB/9 as a 22 year old in AAA.
Johan Santana had a 5.0 BB/9 in AAA at age 23.
And none of those guys had to go through what Chapman is going through. The cultural adjustment for Chapman is just unimaginable. I know we all wish he would post a sub 1.00 ERA and strike everybody out and force his way into the majors immediately but the fact is, he needs some seasoning in the minors. I think his dominance in spring training kind of fooled us all (including me) into thinking he was ready to dominate major league hitters when in reality he needed some time in the minor leagues. After all, he hadn't pitched in a competitive games since early in 2009.
I'm absolutely thrilled to have him in the organization. He's got an incredible future ahead of him, IMO. A lefty that throws 100 MPH and has three ridiculously good pitches and has clean mechanics. He just needs to improve his control and gain consistent command of his pitches. When he does, he has a chance to be a very special pitcher.
I'm new here... I'll keep coming back to read excellent posts like the above.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Quote:
Originally Posted by
powersackers
I'm new here... I'll keep coming back to read excellent posts like the above.
Thank you very much. Welcome to the board!:)
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OnBaseMachine
Johan Santana had a 5.0 BB/9 in AAA at age 23.
Not to mention what he did his first couple of years in the Majors, which is why I try to tell everyone that Homer Bailey is exactly where he's supposed to be at this point (same with Cueto).
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Was at the Lynchburg game last night. Obviously was disapointed that Devin didnt stick around long enough for myself to see him at Salem. Few things I took away is there was a clear shortage of talent on display last night. No one really jumped out as someone to watch. Hotchkiss was effective. The best thing about the night was clearly Brays performance. He was overmatching them and faced most of Salems best hitters in his 2 innings. He was slightly wild but worked to his advantage with Red Sox swinging at most of his balls. For a club that needs bullpen help at the bigs it was great to see.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
IMO Chapman is a starter all the way. Yes he had a bad outing. He'll have his fair share of them. Wringing our hands over him struggling isn't even note worthy IMO. He should stay at AAA all season long. Even when he's going good, his control is shaky at best. He needs more time. But once he DOES straighten out his control, he's going to be a beast. Leave him down there, let him take the occasional lumps, let him get fully comfortable and don't add on the extra pressure of pitching in the bigs during a pennant chase (which is exactly what we'll be in). It was an ugly outing, but it was only ONE outing. Patience.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Pitches-strikes: Chapman 72-33
That tells the story. He hit 103 warming on the mound. 99 was the hardest he threw in the game. But velocities were quickly much slower after a few batters as he was apparently taking something off to get his pitches over. He was very hittable when he did get a ball in the zone. But it gives him (and Power) something to work on. Try to figure out what he was or wasn't doing to cause that lack of control. I don't think it's any reason to freak out. He just needs to pitch a lot of innings and get things figured out. There's no reason at all to think he can't be a dominant starter in the bigs. But to say he's close is a big mistake.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Between Leake and Strasburg, I think some people have a funny perspective on how quickly young pitchers should advance. The book on Chapman when we signed him was that he was inconsistent mechanically, struggled with his control from time to time and needed to refine his secondary pitches. None of this should be news.
Let's at least give the kid a year in the minors before we try and take him out of the rotation.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7 Minor League Updates
Is Chapman pitching Saturday at Pawtucket? Taking the kids down from Boston for that one.
Re: Chapman tonight: June 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GOYA
How about 2nd best? Best will be my date, without a doubt. ;) :D
Pics, or she's not your date. :D